Darkness and the Light
by bluemoonmaverick
Summary: Episode tag to The Light. Strange things happen during the team's detox in the palace. S/J ship, too.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jack clapped his hands together. "OK, campers, let's get this stuff sorted out so we can make the most of our lovely stay at Club Dread."

Sam and Daniel were currently picking their way through the mountain of supplies that had just arrived through the Stargate, while Loren watched with wide eyes off to the side of the massive pile. Jack had to hand it to Hammond – the man knew how to take care of his troops. He'd sent everything they'd asked for and then some: playing cards, toilet paper, bedding, a camping stove, extra clothes, toothpaste, a camera, bottled water, magazines, extra ammo, flashlights, heaters, a medium sized refrigerator, three computers, a couple of box fans, and a small naquada generator, just to name a few items. He'd also included some personal things as well: Sam and Daniel's books and, most importantly, Jack's yo-yo.

Jack flicked his wrist and released said yo-yo, as he watched his 2IC bend over to pluck an apple from a box of fresh produce. Maybe, he thought, this wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all.

The fact was they were all stuck here for somewhere around three weeks, while they weaned themselves off of the radiation emitting device currently located in the main room of the palace. Jack shook his head. He still couldn't believe their misfortune in having stumbled across the Goa'uld version of an opium den and subsequently becoming addicted to a psychedelic light. Well, not the light exactly but the device underneath it. Fortunately for Teal'c, his symbiote had kept him from becoming dependent, and he had been able to return to the SGC. The bottom line for the rest of them, though, was that they couldn't leave this planet – or really even the palace, at least not for too long – until they had recovered from their addiction.

The plan was to turn the device down in small increments each day until they could finally turn it off. When they had learned how long that would take, they'd let out a collective groan, but Janet had warned against them trying to go too fast, lest the withdrawal symptoms returned. And that was something no one wanted, considering that all of SG5 had died, Daniel had almost committed suicide, and after just a few minutes without exposure to the device, Sam and Jack had been at each other's throats.

"So," Daniel said, interrupting Jack's thoughts. "Any ideas about where we should sleep?" He was holding up a bedroll and pillow.

"You could sleep in the bedrooms." Everyone turned to face Loren. He hadn't said much since Teal'c had left and it had become clear they would be staying for awhile.

Well, now there's an idea." Jack looked over at the boy, well, teen now really. Loren was a strange one. But it was hardly his fault. Living completely alone on an abandoned Goa'uld planet would make anyone strange. Assuming they could wean him off the device – and Janet didn't see any reason why they couldn't – they would take him back to Earth and find him a new home.

Sam rolled her eyes at Jack's sarcastic comment. "Loren, can you show us where they are?"

"Sure," he replied. "Come on."

Loren started toward a hallway that branched off of the main room and beckoned for the rest of the group to follow him. When he arrived outside the first door, he stopped and turned to the group. "This is where I sleep. There are other rooms down the hall."

Sam, Jack, and Daniel headed down the hall and started opening doors. All of the rooms were basically the same: large and ornate, with a huge bed in the center of the room, and a picture window looking out over the grounds of the palace. Daniel walked into the one across from Loren, and shook out one of the curtains. A huge plume of dust drifted up and out across the room. Daniel sneezed. "Lovely," he said.

Jack grimaced. "Well, if you think that's bad, think about the beds. Daniel, didn't you say this was some kind of Goa'uld den of iniquity?"

Sam made a face. "Ew. Thanks for that, sir."

"You're welcome, Carter." He grinned at her. "So, I think we should all stay together, and probably the closer to the device, the better. Daniel, you can keep this room, I'll take the one next to you, and Sam, you can take the one next to Loren." He looked around the group. "That work for everyone?" Seeing nodding heads all round, he continued. "I would, ah, suggest stripping the beds and using your own bedrolls."

"Agreed," said Sam.

After setting up their bedrooms and organizing the rest of the supplies, they sat down to a dinner of ham sandwiches and fruit. Hammond had set up a check-in schedule once every 24 hours and had promised to send fresh food and supplies, as needed. It was a huge relief to them all that they wouldn't be stuck eating MREs for the next three weeks. Even better, Sam had somehow figured about how to get water flowing in the palace. Though she warned that it probably wasn't drinkable, it was sufficient for rinsing off and getting the Goa'uld version of the toilets to work. So, for the most part, their basic needs were met.

Boredom, however, was going to be another issue entirely. After dinner, Sam looked up from her book as Jack attempted to untangle his yo-yo for the upteenth time. He sighed and turned to the youngest member of their party. "Loren, what did you do for fun around here?" When all he received in reply was a blank stare, he continued, "You know, fun. Like playing games, watching videos..." He snapped his fingers. "I know – fishing!"

Loren just shook his head, and Jack let out a loud sigh. Yep, it was going to be a long three weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sam woke up early the next day and wondered toward the main room of the palace in search of coffee. When she reached her destination, she stopped dead in her tracks and just stared.

"What on Earth...?" She was looking at a disaster zone. All of the supplies they had neatly piled in the corner of the room were scattered everywhere. Food was smashed on the floor and spread on the walls. Paper products were torn to shreds, the electrical equipment was in pieces, and every container had been emptied. If Sam didn't know better, she'd swear there had been a wild party there last night.

"Hey, Sam. What's for breakfas-whoa." Daniel took in the mess, letting out a low whistle. "Uh, what happened here?"

"I have no idea." Sam turned to see Jack enter the room.

He walked up in silence, surveying the damage. He rubbed his hands over his face, then through his hair, and looked at the two other members of his team. "What did I tell you kids about laying off the tequila?"

"Um, it wasn't us, sir," replied Sam. "And I doubt it was Loren, which means that there is someone or something else in the palace."

"Maybe it was some kind of animal?" offered Daniel.

"Maybe," said Jack. "But whatever it is, we need to find it."

At that moment, Loren walked up. "Loren," Jack barked. He took a breath and mellowed his tone, remembering that he was talking to a boy not a soldier. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Uh, no," he replied, looking at Jack with wide eyes. It was clear that, despite his attempts to build a rapport with Loren, Jack made the teen nervous.

"Anything like this ever happen before?" Loren shook his head. Jack continued. "Any wild animals around here?"

"Um, only birds and lizards and some little furry black animals that like to chew holes in the wall. Oh, and there's a cat that lives around here, too." Loren shifted anxiously.

"Just the one cat?" Jack asked. Loren nodded.

Jack turned back to Daniel and Sam. "Doesn't sound like anything that could do this kind of damage." He sighed. "OK, let's get this stuff cleaned up. Carter, make a list of anything we need replaced, so we can tell Hammond when we check in today. Then we're going hunting."

The four of them cleaned up the mess as best they could, and Sam relayed to Hammond what had happened during their daily check in with the SGC. Hammond had been extremely concerned and advised them to use caution when searching the palace. "Remember," he'd warned, "it would be difficult for me to send backup since I'd be risking addiction for the additional teams."

His words had a chilling effect on the group, so their spirits were somewhat subdued when they began the search of the palace. It quickly became clear that they would cover more ground by splitting up into teams of two. Jack ordered Daniel to take Loren and search the interior of the palace, while he and Sam surveyed the perimeter outside.

Jack and Sam searched the palace grounds for several hours and found no sign of intruders, animal or otherwise. The whole situation – being near the beach, feeling the effects of being distanced from the light device – was bringing back uncomfortable memories for Sam. The longer she searched the grounds alone with Jack, who had barely said two words since their search began, the more she felt compelled to address their prior altercation.

The words were out before she could stop herself. "Sir, about the other day, on the beach…," she began.

This was a topic Jack was hoping to avoid, though he'd been thinking about it since they walked outside. He hated losing control, and when she had first started in on him that day, he had gotten angry. So angry, in fact, that he had grabbed her jacket and physically spun her around to yell at her, invading her personal space. But when she hadn't backed down, when she had grabbed his own jacket and stood nose to nose with him, he had felt another overwhelming emotion – desire. Shockingly, he had seen the same longing reflected in her eyes. Looking back, he realized that he had been rapidly losing all self restraint and, but for Teal'c calling for them, he probably would have kissed her right there on the beach. And that was not something that he and his subordinate officer were supposed to do – even if he wanted to, even if they had done it before.

He cut her off abruptly. "Forget about it, Carter. You weren't yourself. Neither was I."

"No, that's not where I was going," she persisted. He turned to look at her with slightly raised eyebrows. Sam paused and mustered her courage. She needed to know. "When you said that we were both in withdrawal...you were talking about more than just the light, weren't you?"

Actually, Sam was certain he had been referring to the time they had spent on another world, as other people, with no knowledge of the Stargate, the Air Force, or most importantly their reporting relationship, a time when they had been free to indulge long-repressed emotions – and had nearly become lovers. Despite the hardships they experienced working in the underground factory on the ice planet, she relished the time she had spent there with him, exploring their seemingly newfound relationship. She suspected Jack felt the same way, though he hadn't given any such indication, at least not until his comment on the beach.

He stared at her for what seemed like several minutes. Despite her desire to look away, Sam held his gaze. Finally, he turned and began walking away, but not before she heard him confirm her suspicions. "Yes," he said quietly. "I was."

Jack continued walking around the rest of the palace as Sam trailed slightly behind lost in her thoughts. The sudden crackling of Jack's radio was a welcome interruption.

"Jack," Daniel's voice sounded over the device, "are you there?"

Jack pulled the radio up from his shoulder and spoke into the device. "Yeah, Daniel. Whatcha got?"

"Well, we haven't found any sign of anyone else being in the palace, but we have made some, ah, interesting discoveries."

"Like what?" Jack asked. When his question was met with silence, Jack spoke again into his radio, this time with an edge of sarcasm, "Daniel?"

"I think it would be better if you saw it."

Jack looked at Sam with raised eyebrows. "We'll be right there."

Jack and Sam found Daniel and Loren in a large room off an obscure hallway that branched off from the one leading to the bedrooms.

The room they were standing in had stone walls and floors, with what appeared to be various sets of wrist and ankle restraints anchored in the wall and a large swing in the middle of the room. Various whips, masks, phalluses, and other implements lined the wall opposite the restraints.

Jack took one look around the room and turned to the archeologist. "Daniel?"

"Well," said Daniel looking sideways at Loren, "it appears that the Goa'uld who visited this place enjoyed many various forms of, uh, recreation." When Jack just raised his eyebrows, Daniel continued. "This is one of...many such rooms we've'd discovered along this hallway."

"I see," said Jack. "And this explains what happened to our supplies, how?"

"Well, it doesn't. But it confirms our initial determination that this was some sort of Goa'uld pleasure palace."

"Ah," replied Jack. At that point, an animal that looked remarkably similar to a grey and white tabby cat walked into the room. "And what is this?"

"This is the cat I was talking about this morning," said Loren.

The cat walked right up to Sam and began rubbing up against her legs. She bent down and scratched the animal behind his ears, and he immediately began purring.

"Lucky bastard," muttered Jack under his breath.

Daniel, pointedly ignoring Jack's comment continued. "I also found this." He held out what appeared to be a book of some sort.

"What's that?" asked Sam.

"I haven't been able to translate it, but I think it's a journal of some sort. I found it in one of the bedrooms further down the hall."

Jack raised his chin at the book. "What's it say?"

Daniel gave Jack an exasperated look. "Well, I don't know yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out. It seems to be written in an obscure dialect."

"All right, then. Anything else?" Daniel shook his head, and Jack continued. "We didn't find anything either – no tracks, no footprints, nothing to indicate that we're not the only ones here."

Sam spoke up. "It's really weird, sir. Something made that mess."

"Yes, well, it must have been some kind of animal after all. We'll just have to keep our eyes open. In the meantime, let's make sure we keep all of the food locked up. And we'll hang our trash up high." Jack paused. "Just like camping!" he exclaimed with far more enthusiasm than he actually felt.

The next few days passed without incident. They turned down the device a little more each day, and thus far had felt no ill effects. Hammond replaced the supplies they lost and even sent a few more personal items at Jack's request. He passed them out one evening to the group like Christmas gifts: a fishing pole for himself; a Gameboy for Loren; more language books for Daniel, who was still having a difficult time translating the journal; and a small telescope for Sam. When Jack unveiled his "gift" to her, Sam rewarded him with a small grin and a soft, "Thank you, sir," that did funny things to Jack's stomach.

"Wanna go set it up?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. They headed out onto the large deck, off the main room, overlooking the ocean. It was a beautiful night for stargazing, and Jack was beginning to understand why the Goa'uld had set up a pleasure palace here.

The two worked in silence for awhile, and Sam was reminded of how skilled an amatuer astronomer Jack was. He tinkered with the telescope for a minute, then backed up and grinned at her.

"Take a look."

She leaned in and saw a blue and green nebula very clearly in the lens.

"It's beautiful," she said.

In a soft voice that sent a chill up her spine, he replied in a soft voice, "Yes. It certainly is." Sam turned to look at him and was pleasantly surprised to find him staring not at the sky, but at her.

She wasn't sure how long they had been looking at each other, when she heard Daniel clear his throat behind them. "Find anything good?" He and Loren walked out on the deck.

The remainder of the evening they spent as a group, looking at various stellar objects and thinking up names for the constellations they spotted. After a couple of hours, they were rewarded with a double moonrise. Though the view was impressive, it impeded their stargazing, so they called it a night.

They had all but forgotten the mess they had discovered the second day there, until late that night when they were awakened by a loud crashing noise coming from the main room of the palace. At first, when the four of them wondered into the room, they didn't see anything amiss. Then Sam let out a strangled cry and ran out on the large deck adjacent to the room. There, on the hard tile, lay Sam's telescope shattered into a million pieces.

"The cat?" asked Jack.

Sam's voice sounded strained. "No, he was in my room with me." The cat had consistently remained by Sam's side ever since they had discovered him during the search of the palace.

"I'm pretty sure this was no accident," said Daniel.

The other three turned to look at him. Jack spoke first. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I could have sworn I heard laughter right after the crash," he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning, they searched the palace again. Still, they found nothing. Jack was growing increasingly frustrated, though Sam suspected his mood was partially due to the fact that he had stayed up the remainder the night keeping watch.

He furrowed his brow. "Daniel, are you sure you heard someone laughing? You sure you didn't dream it?"

"I know I didn't dream it because I wasn't sleeping." At Jack's questioning look, he continued, "I was up late trying to translate that journal. I was hoping I might be able to find some clue as to what's going on around here. And, yes, it is possible that it was all in my head, but I really don't think so."

Jack turned to Loren. "And you've never had anything like this happen before?"

The teen shook his head vigorously. "No, never."

They continued to look around the palace for a few more hours but eventually gave up the search as pointless. During lunch, they discussed the need to set up formal watches again. It didn't come as a surprise, but it wasn't particularly welcome news, either. Sam was to take first watch, then Jack, with Daniel last.

"So much for the vacation," mumbled Daniel.

The remainder of the day was spent cleaning up the shattered telescope, checking in with the SGC, and relaxing, as much as possible. Everyone was on edge, and Daniel didn't know if it was the result of turning down the device or the strange happenings in the palace.

Following dinner, Jack left Loren with Daniel and joined Sam on the deck. She was staring out at the water. Although the sea was calm, the sky was cloudy and no stars or moons could be seen. Perhaps it was for the best, Jack thought, considering what had happened to Sam's telescope. In the absence of any significant light source, it was quite dark and somewhat eerie.

"You OK, Carter?" Jack had noticed that his 2IC had been quiet throughout their evening meal, and he suspected it was more than just the cloudy skies.

"I'm fine, sir," she replied. Jack flashed his skeptical look at her automatic response. She looked back at him, and he raised his eyebrows as encouragement to continue.

She looked back out to sea and sighed. "I guess I'm just not particularly excited about staying here for two more weeks. The place creeps me out. And honestly," she lowered her voice and leaned toward him, "Loren is starting to creep me out a little, too."

Jack had to agree about the palace being creepy, but the comment about Loren surprised him. Sure the kid was somewhat strange, but what did she expect? He'd been all but abandoned by his parents who had gotten themselves addicted to some psychedelic light. And then he had lived here all by himself for a few years after his parents ultimately killed themselves.

Jack looked out over the ocean. "Ah, Carter, he's just a messed up kid."

"I know," she replied. "Still, it bothers me the way he's always looking at me…like he's undressing me with his eyes." She shivered.

Jack hadn't noticed, but it made some sense. Sometime, likely not too long ago, Loren had hit puberty. Sam was probably the first woman he'd had exposure to since then, and it didn't help that she happened to be a particularly beautiful woman at that. It was natural for Loren to be curious and maybe a little obsessed with her. Heck, Loren wasn't the only one. Still, he could understand how that would make Sam uncomfortable. He made a note to pay more attention to Loren's behavior around his 2IC.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Jack offered.

Sam sighed. "No. I'm afraid that would just make things all the more uncomfortable." She gave him a small smile. "Thanks anyway, though, sir."

He grinned back at her and nudged her elbow with his. "Hey, anytime you need me to defend your honor from overeager, underage admirers, you just let me know."

They stood shoulder to shoulder in comfortable silence, staring out over the still ocean. Sam let her thoughts wonder to the man standing beside her. Only a few months ago, he had made it clear that he was an admirer as well. Actually, they'd both confessed their attraction to each other, though only under duress. They knew they weren't supposed to feel the way they did, but how did the military honestly expect to govern their emotions by regulation? Nevertheless, they'd vowed to keep it in the room, to ignore their feelings in favor of their duty.

Then they'd wound up in the underground factory, memories erased yet inexplicably drawn to one another. She could still remember their last meeting in the semi-hidden alcove Jack had somehow found in a distant corner of the factory. She recalled the way his lips felt on her hers, soft at first, then increasingly demanding, his large hands slipping underneath her bulky orange tunic, stroking her sides, her breasts. She remembered threading her fingers through the silver hair at the back of his head and pulling him to her, the evidence of his arousal pressing hard against her abdomen. If they hadn't been called to Brenna's office at exactly that moment….

"Whatcha thinkin'?" he asked softly, startling her out of her reverie.

She gave him a soft smile and looked down at her hands. "Um, you probably don't want to know."

He was silent for a minute. Then he said quietly, "I think I may already." He turned to look at his Second. God, she was beautiful – and fate was indeed cruel. He wanted her so badly, and he knew she felt the same way about him. But, for the sake of their positions and their team, they had agreed not to act on their emotions.

"It's just not fair," she said, giving voice to his thoughts.

He studied her for several seconds, but Sam refused to look at him, afraid of what she'd see. Jack brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and he turned her face to his. His eyes traveled down to her lips and back again, and Sam felt her heart race. Slowly, he closed the small distance between them, and then his lips were on hers. At first, she was so stunned by the contact, she didn't move. But as he deepened the kiss, her body responded. Her mouth opened, giving him complete access, while her hands went to the back of his neck. She pressed the full length of her frame against his and felt the tendrils of desire beginning to radiate from her core.

"Hey, Jack! Sam!" Loren called, running out onto the deck then stopping abruptly, as the two officers practically jumped apart. He looked at them, trying to puzzle out what he'd just seen.

Jack recovered first. "What's up, Loren?"

"Um, Daniel wants to show you something." He continued to stare at the couple, a confused look on his face, finally casting a deep frown at Sam. Jack was starting to see why she felt uneasy around the young teen. In a voice that was more command than request, Jack told Loren to go and tell Daniel they would be right there.

Sam immediately turned to follow Loren into the palace. Jack also followed, but kept a respectful distance from his 2IC. "Stupid," he muttered to himself, and rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. It was one thing to make a move on Sam when he was ignorant of their reporting relationship, but a completely different thing to consciously hit on his subordinate officer. Where was his self control? After all, she had made it very clear that she did not want to act on their feelings. At least he was pretty sure that was the message she had given him in Brenna's office once they realized who they were. Still, when he kissed her, she seemed more than a little responsive. He sighed. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.

When he entered the main room of the palace, Jack was careful not to make eye contact with Sam. Instead, he looked at Loren, who was still frowning, and then at Daniel, who was more excited than Jack had seen him in several months. His eyes gleamed, and when he spoke he gestured wildly with his hands.

"Hey guys, I finally figured out the translation. Turns out I was assuming this dialect was based on the various languages of ancient Egypt, but it is actually a derivation of the languages of Mesopotamia." Taking in Jack's glazed look and Sam's amused smile, he decided to get to the point. "Anyway, there's some wild stuff in here."

"Do tell," said Jack, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.

"Well, the person who wrote the journal was one of the human servants in the palace. And we were right about the purpose of this place. Apparently the Goa'uld who came here participated in all kinds of illicit activities – gambling, drugs, and kinky sex were just the tip of the iceberg."

Jack shifted his position on the wall. "Sounds like Vegas," he said.

"Oh, this went much further than Vegas. Think more like Soddom and Gomorrah. Basically, if a Goa'uld paid enough money, just about any kind of fetish could be indulged, including voyerism, S&M, bondage, bestiality, you name it."

"Daniel," Sam said, looking sideways at Loren, "this is, ah, interesting, but..."

"Oh, I haven't gotten to the good part, yet." He paused for dramatic effect. "According to this journal, within a couple of years after this place opened for business, strange things started happening."

That got Jack's attention. He stood up from the wall. "Like what kind of strange things?"

"At first, various items were found broken or missing. No one thought much of it. But then the servants started hearing things – footsteps, strange voices... and laughter."

The group looked at each other in surprise. Daniel continued, "They became convinced the palace was cursed. Then one of the servants was found murdered in his room. A week later, two more apparently killed themselves. Needless to say, the situation wasn't particularly good for business. Even the Goa'uld were spooked. The owners considered shutting the place down, but it wasn't until almost two months after the suicides that they finally closed up shop for good."

"What finally convinced them to do that?" asked Jack.

"One morning the servants awoke to find all of the Goa'uld guests slaughtered in their rooms, their symbiotes literally ripped from their spines, and a message written in blood above their beds."

Sam's eyes were wide. "What was the message?"

"Cursed are the wicked ones."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Though they had all been on edge after hearing Daniel's translation of the journal, the remainder of the evening passed without incident, and the following day dawned clear and cool. Sam was in the main room of the palace eating some yogurt, the cat cuddled up in her lap, when Jack came in and plopped down beside her with a box of Fruit Loops. He was quickly joined by Daniel and Loren, who began looking for their own breakfast.

"Looks like you found a friend there, Carter," Jack said, looking at the sleeping cat.

"Yes, sir. He's very sweet. Hasn't left my side since we found him." She scratched the cat behind the ears and smiled when he let out a long purr.

"That is one lucky cat," Jack replied. Sam looked up at her CO, and he gave her crooked smile.

"So," Jack said, turning to address the group. "There's only one thing this day is going to be good for, and that would be fishing. Who's in?"

When a resounding silence met Jack's question, he voice took on a pleading tone. "Really? No takers?" He turned to the archeologist. "Daniel?"

"Ah, now that I understand the language used by the servants who were here, I was planning to see if I could find any more information about this place."

"Hmph," Jack grunted. "Carter?"

"Well, sir, I'm not sure it's a good idea to be too far away from the device for any length of time."

"Coward," Jack replied, and realized too late the double meaning of his accusation. He spoke quickly to cover himself. "Well, I guess I'll just have to enjoy the sport of kings all by my self."

Sam smiled. "I thought that was horse racing, sir."

"All depends on who's the king, Carter," he called out over his shoulder, picking up his fishing rod and walking toward the beach.

Daniel turned to Sam. "I'm going to see if I can find any more writings. Thought I'd check the servant's quarters again."

"Can I come with you?" asked Loren. He seemed to feel most comfortable around Daniel.

"Sure," Daniel smiled. "You can help me look for things to translate."

"Have fun," Sam called, as she opened up her laptop.

Daniel and Loren spent several hours looking in the servants' quarters. Although they found some interesting items, there was nothing that provided any more information than they had already learned from the journal. For his part, Loren had remained mostly silent during the search. Just as Daniel was about to suggest they return to the main room, Loren spoke up out of the blue.

"Are Sam and Jack married?"

Daniel turned to look at the youth, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Uh, no. Jack is Sam's boss." Daniel hesitated a moment and decided he probably ought to find out what this was about. "What makes you ask?"

Loren shifted and looked at his feet. "I saw them kissing the other night."

"Oh."

Daniel was aware that Jack and Sam had feelings for each other, but he had never seen them act on them, and they had always been completely professional with one another, especially off-world. That was, of course, until they had their memories erased on the ice planet. While Daniel had not seen any evidence of physical intimacy, at the time he had assumed they were together. He honestly had not thought much about the situation since. Still, if their relationship had progressed to something more than friendship during their time on that planet, it occurred to Daniel that it might be difficult for them to go back to their supervisor-subordinate relationship. He immediately felt a pang of regret for his friends and more than a little concern for the future of his team. He needed to be certain.

"Loren, are you sure what you saw?"

Loren just nodded. After a moment he said, "I thought you had to be married to kiss."

Daniel cleared his throat and wondered how to explain kissing to a teenager who had lived several years on his own and likely only had childhood memories of his parents as a point of reference. While Daniel could probably write a book on the cultural significance of kissing, he decided to keep it simple.

"Ah, no, you don't have to be married to kiss. At least not where we're from. On Earth, it's a way of showing affection for someone or letting a person know you find them attractive and would like to get to know them better." Daniel paused, and taking in Loren's furrowed brow he asked, "Does that make sense?"

Suddenly, Loren's face broke into a wide smile. "Yes, that makes sense."

Daniel smiled back. "Good. Now how 'bout we head back to the main room and see what's for lunch."

As they walked toward the light room, Daniel noticed that Loren appeared more at ease. Suddenly, Loren stopped and turned to Daniel, the worried look back on his face.

"Do you have to be someone's boss to kiss them?"

Daniel chuckled and started walking again. "Ah, no. In fact, it's probably better if you're not."

"Okay," Loren said, falling into step with Daniel. "Good."

They made their way back to the main room of the palace to find Sam in the same position in which they had left her. As they entered, she looked up.

"That was fast. Find anything?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows and smiled at his friend. They'd actually been gone for quite awhile. But he understood how quickly time seemed to pass when you were wrapped up in your work. "No," he sighed. "We didn't find anything. We were thinking about getting some lunch." He looked around the room. "Have you seen Jack?"

"Um, no, he hasn't been back."

Daniel shrugged. "Alright, I'll go check on him. In the meantime, Loren, why don't you see if you can find something for us to eat."

Although Sam was not thrilled to be left alone with Loren, she told herself it was a good opportunity to get to know the teen better and maybe alleviate some of the awkwardness between them. She got up to help with lunch.

"Hey, Loren. Have you ever had peanut butter and jelly?"

As Sam pointed out the lunch items they needed from their stockpile, Loren retrieved them and set them aside. Sam did her best to put the teen at ease, smiling at him often, but he was nervous and fidgety the entire time. She thought it might be nice to have something warm, so she decided to show Loren how to heat up a can of chicken noodle soup using the camp stove. She then asked him to find some bowls and spoons, and when he produced them and set them on their makeshift table, she gave him another smile.

Without warning, he grabbed her face and pulled it to him, pressing his lips to hers. Sam's eyes went wide with shock, and she immediately pulled back and pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" she yelped.

Loren looked stunned. "I...I just..."

At that moment, Jack returned with Daniel. Taking one look at the expression on his Major's face, he turned toward Loren and yelled, "What the hell is going on here?"

Loren looked from Jack to Daniel and back to Jack again and then took off at a run toward his room.

"Carter?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know, sir. One moment, we're fixing lunch, and the next thing I know he...he tried to kiss me!"

Jack paused and stared at her for several beats. "What!"

"Oh. Oh, no." Daniel was muttering and shaking his head. Sam and Jack both turned to look at him. "I think this may be my fault."

"Daniel, what are you talking about?" demanded Jack.

"He, um, asked me about kissing, and I was trying to explain the significance, and, well, I guess he misunderstood."

"Daniel." Jack drew out the last syllable of his name. "What exactly did you tell him?"

"I, ah, I think I told him that kissing was a means of showing someone that you like them and want to get to know them better. Or, at least, something like that."

"I take it you left out the part about getting permission first?" Jack sounded exasperated.

"Daniel," Sam interrupted, in a tone much calmer than Jack's. "Why were you talking to Loren about kissing?"

Daniel winced. "He, um, ah...he said that he saw you and Jack kissing the other night."

Sam's mouth made an "O" shape, but no sound came out. She did, however, turn a vibrant shade of red. Jack likewise turned red, but unlike Sam, he verbalized his frustration. "Oh, for crying out loud!"

Although Jack had initially insisted on speaking with Loren, Daniel had intervened, adamant that he should be the one to clear up any misunderstanding since he had caused the confusion in the first place. Neither Jack nor Sam had volunteered any additional information about their own kiss, and Daniel mercifully didn't ask. Later that night, when Loren came out from his room briefly to apologize to Sam, Jack did his best not to glare at the teen, and Sam did her best to accept his apology gracefully.

Sam was still on edge after the others went to bed and she started her watch. Thinking back on the events of the day, she winced. Misunderstanding or not, Loren's actions only served to make her increasingly uncomfortable with the prospect of staying on this planet. The thought of being trapped here for two more weeks caused her a moment of panic, which she quickly repressed. She reminded herself that she was an officer in the U.S. Air Force and that she had faced much worse than a hormonal teen and an old, abandoned palace. Still, if she could go home now it wouldn't be too soon.

When Jack came to relieve her, he gave her a small smile but didn't say a word. Sam returned the smile but didn't say anything either. It seemed he was not in the mood to talk. As she prepared for bed, Sam thought about her Commanding Officer. The man was so hard to read – one moment he's kissing her, then next he's barely talking to her. She sighed as she lay down on the bed, the cat her only company. It was an impossible relationship anyway, she thought.

It was a long time before she fell asleep.

A little while later, Sam woke suddenly, unsure of what had disturbed her sleep. She lay still and listened closely in the darkness. After a few seconds, she thought she heard a soft thud. She sat up, fully awake now. Another thud, then another. It occurred to Sam that the noise sounded almost like footsteps. However, it didn't seem to be coming from the hallway but from the wall behind the bed. Slowly, Sam reached for her flashlight. She turned it on and swept the beam around the room, then gasped. There, at the foot of the bed, was the cat, standing with it's back arched, hackles raised, and staring at the wall behind her. Sam felt an icy chill go down her spine. At that exact moment, she heard the unmistakable sound of someone screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sam grabbed her gun, bolted out of bed, and ran into the hallway. Daniel was just coming out of his room, looking somewhat rumpled. He shot her a puzzled look just as Jack rounded the corner.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack asked them.

"No idea, sir."

"I thought I heard someone screaming," Daniel offered. "I think it was Loren."

The group approached Loren's door, and Daniel knocked. "Loren?" he called out. "Are you in there?" When he received no answer, he put his ear to the door. "I think he's crying."

Daniel tried the handle and found the door unlocked. Without hesitation, he pushed it open and walked in, his teammates following closely behind. There, on the floor next to the bed, sat Loren, openly weeping with his head in his hands.

Daniel approached him slowly. "Loren? What is it? What happened?"

Loren looked up at the group, with red eyes and a pained expression on his face. "I heard them!" he screamed. "I heard what they said!"

"Who?" asked Jack brusquely, only to have Daniel shoot him a warning glance. Jack put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

Daniel turned back to Loren. "Loren, what did you hear?" He sat down next to the boy and put his arm around his shoulder.

"They said they were going to kill me!" He was now sobbing uncontrollably.

"Who said they were going to kill you?" Daniel asked softly.

"I...I don't know. There were voices – in the wall or maybe the ceiling. I didn't see anyone." Loren grabbed Daniel's arm and looked at him with wild eyes. "Don't let them kill me! Please!"

"They're not going to kill you, Loren. We won't let them." Daniel continued to hold the boy and looked up at Jack and Sam. "Maybe there's something we can give him?"

Jack nodded. "Good idea. Daniel, stay here with Loren. Carter, you're with me." He turned toward the hallway, and Sam followed. When they were both outside, Jack pulled the door mostly closed behind them and turned to his Second.

"Whaddya make of this, Carter?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I, ah…I don't know sir, but…."

"But?"

"Well, I could have sworn I heard something, too, right before Loren screamed." Her CO raised his eyebrows, indicating that she should continue. "It sounded like footsteps…on the wall." She grimaced a bit, realizing how crazy that sounded.

"Okay," he said, drawing out the word and running his hands through his hair. "So, this would seem to indicate once again that we are not alone." He blew out a breath. "I want to take a closer look at these rooms. Let's start with yours, Carter."

Jack gestured toward her room, letting Sam lead the way. When she walked into her room and turned on her lights, she immediately noticed that something wasn't right. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that someone had been rifling through her duffel bag. As she sorted through her items, she became increasingly flustered, a fact that was not lost on her superior officer.

"Carter, what's wrong?"

"Sir," she said as she turned toward him, a flush creeping up her neck. "I appear to missing some personal items."

Jack's eyebrows shot to the top of his head. "Such as?"

"Um, well, it looks like some of my underwear is missing. A few panties and at least one bra."

Now it was Jack's turn to blush. "Anything else?"

"Not that I can tell, sir."

They walked across the hall to Jack's room. At first, when he entered, he didn't think anything had been disturbed. On a hunch, though, he checked the drawer where he had stashed his weapons.

"Crap," he exclaimed. "My utility knife is gone."

Jack walked back into the hallway and called for his teammate. "Daniel!" When the archeologist walked out of Loren's room, Jack got straight to the point. "Check your room and let me know if anything is missing."

Daniel nodded and went into his room. Within minutes, he reappeared, his face drained of color. "My gun. And my zat."

"Goddammit!" Jack swore. "All right, I want to get a complete inventory of everything that's missing. When you're done, meet in the light room."

Once Loren had been given a sedative from the med kit Janet had sent, he had searched his room to see if anything of his had gone missing. The others had likewise taken a second inventory of their personal items and had concluded that only the gun, the zat, the knife, and Sam's underwear were missing, a fact that did not sit well with any of them, especially Sam.

"Why would someone want my underwear?" she asked of no one in particular.

"More importantly," Jack interrupted, "who or what would want your underwear?" Jack winced as soon as the words left his mouth. "I mean, of course, I'm sure lots of people would want your underwear, Carter, I just mean who…or what specifically." He winced again as Sam rolled her eyes at him.

"Look," Daniel intervened, trying to save his friend further embarrassment, "one thing is certain, and that is that we are not alone here."

"Right," replied Jack, regaining some of his equilibrium. "I know we've done this before, but as soon as it's light, I want to thoroughly search this palace again. And Carter, let's start turning that device down faster."

"Janet warned against us turning it down too fast, sir."

"I appreciate that, Carter, but that was before we realized that there were panty snatching ghosties in our midst."

Sam did as she was told and immediately turned the device down by twice as many increments as she normally did.

After a quick breakfast, the group began looking in every room of the palace, especially those they had skipped or only given cursory attention previously. It was a painfully slow process, and they had stopped only to check in with the SGC and eat a quick lunch before resuming their search. By late afternoon, they had discovered many different rooms in the palace, most of them dedicated to leisure or sexual activities, but none of which had given any indication of being inhabited. Exhausted, they returned to the main room of the palace.

"Let's do one more sweep of the rooms on this floor before we lose our light," Jack ordered.

"Come on, Jack," Daniel said, "We've been all over this place, three times now. We're not going to find anything."

"I agree, sir. This is pointless," Sam added.

"I said," Jack replied sternly, staring his team members down, "One. More. Sweep." Grumbling, they followed him toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms and pleasure chambers.

As she trailed behind her CO, Sam seethed, thinking about his behavior throughout the day. Jack had been his typical curt and demanding self for hours on end, and it was truly on her last nerve. Clearly, the man was insane – or he just got a sick thrill out of toying with her. As she followed him from room to room she began to question why she put up with his Jekyll and Hyde personality. One minute he treated her like a friend and potential lover, the next he reverted back to being her Commanding Officer, snapping orders at her while barely looking her direction.

As they walked into one of the many pleasure rooms, Jack picked up a large phallic object and quirked a smile at her. "Whaddya think this is for?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Looks like a prick to me, sir," she replied pointedly and looked away.

Jack set the object down, and looked at his Second through narrowed eyes. "You know, Carter, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were talking about more than just the big penis."

"It takes one to know one," she muttered, then added after a few beats, "sir."

"OK, Carter, what the hell is this all about?" he demanded, closing the distance between them.

Sam spun and faced her CO. "You really don't know, do you?" she yelled at him.

"Maybe you'd like to explain it to me, _Major_," he replied, putting emphasis on her rank.

"That's just it, isn't it, _sir_," she spat out the honorarium like it was a dirty word. "I'll always be your subordinate officer…forced to follow your lead...subject to your orders, whether it's to shoot some Jaffa or suck your…."

"Carter!" Jack roared. "You are way, way outta line, and I suggest you back down immediately!" Jack was in her face now, and they were both breathing heavily.

Daniel had just entered the room, with Loren a step behind him. The archeologist was now staring openly at the two officers, shock clearly written on his features. "Ah, guys," he said uncertainly.

Sam seemed to recover first, tearing her gaze away from her CO's angry eyes. She brought a hand up to her forehead and stared at the ground. "Oh," she mumbled. "Oh, God." And with that she turned toward the door and pushing past Daniel made her way out of the room.

"Carter…" Jack called after her, his tone somewhat softer than before.

As he turned to follow her, Daniel grabbed his arm, "Jack, it's the device. We've turned it down too fast."

"What was your first clue, Danny?" he replied, as he shoved past his teammate and went in search of Sam.

It didn't take long to find her. She was just getting up from fiddling with the device, apparently having turned it back up.

"Look, Carter," Jack started.

"I can't do this now, sir," Sam said quickly, a flush crawling up her face. "I need a moment." She walked toward her room without looking back.

Daniel and Loren passed her on their way into the light room. Daniel looked after her and was just opening his mouth to say something to Jack, when the military man held up a finger and raised his eyebrows at him. "Ack! Not now, Daniel."

Daniel snapped his mouth shut. Jack sighed and ran his hands though his hair. "Look, it's been a rough day. Let's get some grub and take a moment to, ah," he waved his hands in the air, looking for the right word, "readjust."

By the end of dinner, everyone agreed they were feeling somewhat better. Sam, however, did not join them until it was time for her watch. By then, Jack had retreated to his own room to get some sleep before he took the second shift. Though he was initially hesitant, Loren ultimately followed suit, the need for sleep outweighing his fear of being alone in his room.

As Sam came into the light room, Daniel met her with some of the dinner he had set aside for her. She gave him a weak smile, and he sat down next to her as she settled herself on the floor to eat.

"Everything okay, Sam?"

"I'm much better now, Daniel, thanks." She sighed. She knew she wasn't going to get out of talking over some of what happened with him. "I'm really more embarrassed than anything else."

"Well, I think we were all a little on edge today." He smiled conspiratorially at her. "And honestly, you weren't the only one who wanted to kill Jack."

She laughed and was thankful once again for the close nature of their friendship. They sat in companionable silence while Sam ate her dinner. After awhile, he started fidgeting, indicating that something was on his mind.

"What?" she finally asked him.

He looked her right in the eye. "What's going on with you and Jack?"

Sam sighed. She knew this question would come up sooner or later. She put the remnants of her meal aside and looked at her friend.

"It's not what you think. We, um, haven't…we never…" she sighed and started again. "On the ice planet, we got close – very close." At that Daniel raised his eyebrows. "We didn't consummate our relationship, but…" She paused. She hadn't talked about this with anyone, not even Jack. Although the thought of confiding in someone was appealing, she was uncertain how much she was comfortable disclosing.

"But…" Daniel prompted.

"But I'm sure we would have if we had remained on the planet much longer." Like, one minute longer, she thought to herself. She looked down at the floor, picking at the crumbs on her plate. Daniel didn't need that level of detail. He also didn't need to know how their relationship had been far more than just physical, that she had been in love with Jonah/Jack. That she still was.

"Must have been hard, remembering who you were."

She looked up at him. "Yeah, it was. I think we're both still trying to find our way back to who we were before Jonah and Thera."

Daniel got up and looked down at her. "Maybe you're not supposed to go back. Maybe you should concentrate on going forward." And with that, he left for his room as Sam stared after him.

When Jack had come to relieve her, he had been civil but gave no indication that he wished to discuss their earlier altercation. Now Sam lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. She realized that she hadn't seen the cat all day. She had become accustomed to his company and missed the white noise of his constant purr.

With nothing to distract her, she couldn't help but think back over the events of the day. The Colonel was right; she had been out of line. In fact, she had been grossly insubordinate. She groaned and put her arm over her eyes. Yes, she was under the influence of the device at the time, but that didn't excuse her from calling the Colonel a prick, even it was an accurate descriptor, at least part of the time. The fact was she had been frustrated because she didn't know where she stood with him now. Sometimes, he was maddeningly professional with her, at other times, he was almost romantic. It was all so confusing.

A skittering sound broke her train of thought and had Sam sitting straight up on the bed. She listened for a moment, but when she didn't hear anything else, she lay back down. Unfortunately, her thoughts picked up right where they left off. She let out another groan. Impossible relationship. Impossible man.

Maybe she should just go to him and apologize. She flipped the cover on her watch. It was just after 0300 hours local time, so he should be done with his watch. Would he still be awake? Would he let her in? Would he want to talk to her?

Just as she was thinking that she was never going to get any sleep, she heard the skittering noise again, louder this time. It sounded like it was coming from inside her wall.

"That's it!" she proclaimed to no one. She grabbed her gun and stood up next to the wall. "Who's there?"

She waited for several minutes and placed her ear to the wall. Just as she was starting to feel somewhat foolish, she heard what sounded like a low chuckle. Then she heard someone – or some_thing_ – whisper her name.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Mind the rating from here on out, kids!**

Chapter 6

Sam jumped back several feet. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. Despite the fact that she was a well trained and heavily armed Air Force officer, she was admittedly freaked out. The chuckling started again, and she bolted for her door.

Once in hall, she contemplated her next step. The last thing she wanted to do was admit to her CO that she was afraid. However, if there were someone or something in her room, then it was probably wise to check it out. With back up.

Having made up her mind, she crossed the hall and knocked on Jack's door. He answered almost immediately. So, he was awake.

"Carter. What's up?"

The sight of him caused her breath to hitch. He was barefoot, wearing only his BDU pants. His chest, which she didn't see often, was toned and tanned. Several days of stubble lined his chiseled jaw, and his graying hair was sticking up wildly. He looked like heaven.

Sam took a deep breath and focused on her purpose. "There's something in my room."

Jack immediately turned back into his room and retrieved his gun. Together, they went to the entrance of Sam's room, flanking the door with their weapons ready. At his signal, they entered, Jack first, Sam covering him from behind. After sweeping the room twice, Jack lowered his weapon.

"It's clear," he stated, all business.

Sam looked at him. "I swear I heard laughing and someone whispering my name," she said, frustrated.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

Sam bristled. "No, sir. I know what I heard. Something definitely said my name."

"Look, Sam, it's really late – or really early, depending on how you look at it," he said, rubbing his forehead. "It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that a lot of really weird stuff has been going on around here, and based on past experience, I doubt we're going to figure it out tonight."

He lowered his hand and noticed how tired and anxious she looked. The words were out of his mouth before he thought about them. "Come on. You can stay in my room."

She snapped her head up at him, and for a moment he thought she might refuse. But then she nodded, grabbed her sleeping bag and pillow, and followed him to his room. He closed the door behind them, and as she was walking toward his bed, he allowed himself to really look at her. Oh, he thought, this was so not a good idea.

Her long, sleek legs were completely bare and disappeared beneath a regulation black T-shirt that left very little to the imagination. It was clear that she wasn't wearing a bra. For a moment he entertained the notion that she wasn't wearing underwear, either, but he quickly dismissed that thought. His Major might not be modest – too many nights spent off world surrounded only by men had divulged her of that trait – but she was hardly wanton. Still, she was sexy as hell and, as usual, had no idea.

He watched as she deposited her bedding on the floor next to his bed. She turned to face him. "Sir, I just want to say that I'm really sorry about earlier today. I...I had no right to say those things. I don't believe them. I..." she trailed off, uncertain of what to say next.

He sighed. "Listen, Carter, I know things have been…difficult, ever since…well, you know…." he started. Now he was the one who was having trouble finishing his sentences. How do you tell your 2IC that you love her, that you want her, but that they can't be together because he's not allowed to have those feelings for a subordinate officer, much less act on them? Of course, if not for the call from the factory forewoman on that damned ice planet – what was her name? Brenna, yes that was it – he would surely already have carnal knowledge of his Major. That thought, though, was not helping the situation. At all. He shifted a bit and quickly tried to think of something unpleasant – like Walter, in a dress. He tried again. "Listen, Sam. I shouldn't have…I mean I'm not supposed to…oh… for crying out loud!"

Sam looked closely at her CO. He was nervous and uncertain. Watching him struggle to express himself, she softened toward him even further. It was both endearing and erotic to have such a strong man, a man who was always in control, so on edge. It was clear that he was struggling to figure out where they stood just as much as she was.

The truth was, she badly wanted to finish what they had started on the ice planet, even if it was a mistake. In fact, she realized it was growing increasingly difficult to think of anything else. One look at him confirmed that he was feeling the same way. It sent a thrill right to her core. But she also knew as much as he might want to, he would be reluctant to take things too far, since he was her superior officer. If she wanted this, she would have to make her intentions clear.

She suppressed her nerves and started moving toward him. He kept his eyes locked on hers, as she approached him. She stepped right up to him, her face just inches from his. "I'm sorry," she repeated, this time in a whisper. He was breathing hard, but he didn't move, so she lifted her face and placed her lips on his.

That one touch was all it took for his already fragile self control to completely break. His hands found her face and pulled her closer to him, his mouth hard on hers, his tongue demanding access. He kissed her long and hard, and she opened herself to him.

He pulled back, breathless. There was too much at stake not to be certain. "Are you sure?" His only answer was a brief nod, as she pulled him to her and his lips found hers once again.

Sam's hands moved from the back of Jack's neck to his chest, where she ran her fingers through his sparse and graying chest hair. How long she had wanted to do that, and so much more. She felt his hands travel down to her hips and find their way under her T-shirt. Grasping the bottom of the shirt, he pulled it up and off in one swift move. He cupped her breasts with both hands, brushing his thumbs over her hard nipples. She moaned and arched into his touch.

Jack didn't know where to start. After four years of longing and restraint, he finally had his Major practically naked and completely willing in his arms. The thought was nearly overwhelming. He wanted to touch her everywhere. Somewhat reluctantly he removed one hand from her breast and placed it at the nape of her neck, angling her head so that he could trail kisses from behind her ear all the way down to her collarbone. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

Her hands were quickly moving down his chest to his waist. He groaned and was momentarily distracted as began stroking him through his pants. When he regained his focus, he moved one hand to her backside and pressed her hips to his, feeling her heat right through his BDUs.

As Jack maneuvered Sam toward the bed, she pulled away from him slightly to undo his fly and push his pants and boxer briefs off of his hips. She caught her breath as she saw him for the first time completely naked and fully erect. Holy Hannah, he was magnificent. She grasped his length, and he groaned at the contact. She felt her body respond with a rush of warmth at her core.

He gently pushed her back on the bed, his lips kissing and sucking at her neck. She moaned as he lay on top of her and began thrusting gently against her. Sam lowered her hands to remove her panties, but Jack caught them with his own and raised them above her head. "Let me," he said in a hoarse whisper.

He moved his hands to her breasts and then took each one in his mouth, sucking and rolling her nipples with his tongue. She sighed his name and ran her hands through his hair, as he continued making his way down her body, licking, kissing, and sucking at the skin on her breasts, abdomen, and finally down her thighs, taking her panties with him as he went.

Once Jack had removed her underwear, he pushed her knees apart and kissed his way back up her thighs. By now Sam was panting, and though she knew what was coming, she actually let out a small yelp as Jack's tongue, then one finger, and another, found her most erogenous spot.

Sam moaned again. God, he knew exactly what he was doing. A sweet tension was rapidly growing in her core, and Jack picked up the speed of his movements as he felt her inner muscles begin to tighten. Suddenly, he curled his fingers forward, and Sam broke apart, crying his name.

Watching his Major come had left Jack almost painfully hard. He felt a soft tug on his hair. When he looked up at her all he saw was dark desire in her eyes. "Come here," she said softly.

He all but leapt up her body and captured her mouth with his, the taste of her still on his lips. She wrapped her legs around his back, opening herself completely to him, and with one thrust he was inside her. "God, Sam!" he growled. He stilled for a moment, buried inside of her, afraid that if he moved, this would be over before it started. "Please, Jack," she whispered directly into his ear, and he needed no further encouragement. He started moving, slowly at first, then building to a steady rhythm, as he kissed her lips, her eyes, her neck, her breasts.

Sam's breathing soon became labored. Suddenly, she clenched him tightly and cried out as her second orgasm overtook her. Feeling her tighten around him, Jack lost all control, and he began pounding into her, looking for his own release. Following several deep, erratic thrusts, he suddenly came hard, moaning as he spilled himself inside her, wave after wave of ecstasy coursing through his body.

They lay spent, wrapped around each other and still breathing hard. As their heart rates began to return to normal, Jack took a moment to appreciate the feel of her around him, her hands stroking his back, his face buried in her neck. This, he realized, must be what heaven feels like. He raised up on his arms, and looked down at her to find her softly smiling at him. He cupped her face, brushing first her cheek, then her lips with his thumb. Finally, he leaned down and gave her a long, chaste kiss. He rolled off of her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, as she laid her head on his chest. Within minutes, they were both sound asleep.

From the hidden vantage point on the opposite side of the room, a pair of cold, jealous eyes finally turned away from the scene of their lovemaking, motivated now by a singular and cruel purpose.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sam woke with a start and sat up, pulling the sleeping bag up to cover her bare chest. She looked over at the empty space Jack had occupied the night before. Well, some of the night before. For the better part of their time together last night they had pretty much occupied the same space, a thought that brought a small smile to her face.

"Good morning, sleepy head." His voice attracted her attention to the corner of the room, where he was pulling a T-shirt over his head. The faint light outside told her it was nearly dawn.

"You're up early," she said, her voice still rough with sleep.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd get an early start to the day. Despite a rather active night, I feel…strangely energized," he smiled. He picked up various articles of her clothing from the floor as he walked toward her. When he reached the edge of the bed, he paused and his expression turned serious. He sat down next to her and studied her for a moment. "So. Regrets?"

She reached out and ran a finger along his jaw line. Her voice was soft. "I'm the one who came on to you, remember?"

He placed his hand over hers, kissed it, and moved it to the bed, intertwining their fingers. He looked up at her from where their hands rested together, and sighed. "Well, I think that one's up for debate. Still – and I can't believe I'm going to say this – I think we may need to talk."

The wince that accompanied his last sentence made her laugh out loud. She flopped back on the bed, pulling the covers up over her head. "OK, but do we have to talk now? How about a little later – say, sometime when we're not being terrorized by disembodied voices and disappearing weaponry?"

"Fair enough," he replied, sounding amused and more than just a little relieved.

"Now, before Daniel barges in here and I have to explain why I'm naked in your bed, can you hand me my clothes?"

"Oh, I'd much prefer if you come and get them!" And with that, he pulled the covers off of her and ran across the room waving her T-shirt.

Once she was mostly clothed – a task that took somewhat longer than expected, given their impromptu game of chase – Sam peeked out of Jack's door to check the hallway. Seeing that the coast was clear, she quietly made her way across the hall to her own room.

She opened her door slowly and slipped into the dim space, trying not to make a sound. She knew if she were caught sneaking back into her room at the crack of dawn, Daniel wouldn't stop questioning her until he got a full confession. And as much as she loved and trusted Daniel, she wasn't sure she was ready to share the intimate details of her love life with him. Especially when those details involved her Commanding Officer.

Breathing a sigh of relief that the door seemed to be well oiled despite its age, she slowly shut it behind her and turned toward the room. As her eyes began to adjust to the light, she realized something was wrong. Squinting, she looked at her bed – and let out a scream.

Jack was at her side more quickly than Sam would have thought possible, with Loren then Daniel close behind. Jack grabbed her arm, but she just stared straight ahead, tears streaming down her face. Jack followed her gaze to her bed and inhaled sharply as he took in the bloody mess and tried to figure out exactly what he was looking at.

"Jesus!" he exclaimed, as realization dawned.

"What is that?" asked Daniel.

Sam let out a sob. "I think it's the cat."

Loren turned and ran out of the room, immediately getting sick in the hall. The remaining three stared at the dismembered carcass of the cat. Its entrails had methodically been distributed over the surface of the bed, with its head, two pairs of legs, and tail placed on the four corners of the mattress.

Jack rubbed his hands through his hair. "Okay, this _really_ isn't funny anymore."

"Guys, there's writing on the wall." Daniel pointed to the wall above the bed. Sure enough, scrawled in the cat's blood was a single Goa'uld symbol.

Sam's voice was just above a whisper. "Daniel, what does it say?"

Daniel hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "Well," he started, "it has several different meanings, actually, all derogatory.…"

"Daniel!" Jack yelled.

"It, um…it's a slang word for 'prostitute.' It means 'slut' or 'whore.'"

"Oh, God," Sam sobbed as she buried her face in her hands.

Jack's features immediately hardened. "Son of a bitch!" He rubbed his hands over his face and immediately resumed his military bearing. "Okay, we've clearly got a psychopath on our hands here. One who has access to our rooms, has taken some of our things, including weapons, and is able to remain well hidden. What else do we know?"

"Um, I hate to ask this…." If possible, Daniel appeared even more uncomfortable than before.

"Spit it out, Daniel!" Jack had clearly lost what little patience he had left.

"Sam," he looked at her apologetically, "how is it that you didn't see or hear any of this happen?"

Sam flushed and stared at Daniel with wide eyes. But before she could respond, Jack answered for her, his voice soft now. "She stayed in my room last night, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, as though he expected that answer. Sam wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or relieved. He paused before his next statement and looked at Jack. "Then it's possible that this…thing, whatever it is, may have done this in retaliation for her decision to spend the night with you."

Jack took a deep breath and amended his previous assessment. "So, not only is this guy a sick fuck, he – or it – has some sort of twisted obsession with Carter."

At this, all color drained from Sam's face. "That's just great," she muttered. Jack reached out and touched her arm in an uncharacteristically comforting gesture, but she remained tense.

Jack dropped his hand and got down to business. "Look, this guy must be getting around the palace, into our rooms, through some means other than the hallway." Jack sighed. "You know how much I hate clichés, but I'm wondering if there's not some sort of secret passageway around here."

Sam's eyes went wide. "Yes, that would explain the footsteps and other sounds Loren and I heard coming from the wall."

Jack immediately turned and walked over to examine the wall. Like most of the palace, it was partially covered in ornate Goa'uld hieroglyphs. He began pressing on some of the symbols. Sam and Daniel quickly began imitating his actions. Before long, one of the symbols Sam pressed gave way and she heard a click. The three of them looked toward the source of the sound, and a crack appeared in a large, floor-to-ceiling panel to the right of her bed.

"Which one did you push?" Jack asked.

"It was a bird." she pointed to a symbol near the window. "Here."

"Make a note of it. It may be the same in the other rooms."

Jack walked over to panel and pushed it slightly. It rotated ninety degrees, opening into a small, dark space.

**A/N - with apologies to my fellow cat lovers. :(**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - I've posted two chapters tonight because one is short and because I won't be able to post tomorrow. My plan is to have the conclusion to the story up by Sunday night. **

Chapter 8

Jack had returned to his room to retrieve his weapons and radio, and as he handed his zat to Daniel, it became clear that he was in full command mode. "OK, listen. Carter, I want you to stay out here with Loren while Daniel and I check this out." When she began to protest, he cut her off. "That's an order, Major. I need you to protect the boy. Whatever is in there seems almost as interested in him as you."

"Yes, sir," she replied, though without her usual enthusiasm. She was not happy about babysitting Loren. Adding insult to injury, she would have to sit on her hands while the guys got to do the exploring.

Jack followed Daniel into the darkness but turned to look at his Major at the last second. "Be careful, Sam."

"Yes, sir," she said again, this time with a small smile.

Jack entered through the hidden door and was surprised to see that the space behind it was nothing more than a small room with a ladder leading up to what appeared to be a raised passageway. Daniel was no where to be seen, and since there was only one direction he could have gone, Jack climbed on to the ladder.

When he reached the top, he realized that it wasn't nearly as dark as he had expected. Shafts of light were streaming into the passageway from horizontal slits in the wall. He approached the first such light source and found it to be a long and extremely narrow window that provided a perfect view of the room below. Sam's room. A similar window was on the opposite wall, and when he looked through it, he could see into Loren's room. Given the placement of the windows and their small size, he realized that the occupants of the bedrooms below would never notice such a narrow opening. "Shit," he mumbled, under his breath.

"Jack!" Daniel called. "Over here."

Jack turned toward the direction of Daniel's voice and walked to the other side of the hidden hallway, crossing a larger, intersecting corridor on the way. Daniel was standing in front of a narrow window, identical to the ones looking into Sam's and Loren's rooms.

"Take a look."

Jack peered through the narrow opening and, not surprisingly, found himself looking down into Daniel's room. He quickly crossed to the window on the other side and looked into his own room. He winced as he saw Sam's and his sleeping bags still tangled together on the bed. Jeez, had someone been watching them last night? The thought made him slightly sick.

"Whatever this thing is, it's been spying on us from up here," Daniel stated, as if reading Jack's mind.

Jack swallowed hard and felt his temper starting to rise. "Yeah, and that's not all. He's had access to our rooms from here, too." He pointed to a ladder at the end of the hall leading down to a small space that presumably opened into their rooms, just like the one they'd found behind the hidden panel in Sam's room. "In fact," Jack stated as he walked back to the intersecting corridor, "it looks like this corridor provides access to every bedroom in the palace."

Sure enough, as Jack and Daniel began to traverse the larger corridor, it became apparent that it ran parallel to the main hallway below. Several smaller hallways branched off at regular intervals, all with narrow windows looking into the rooms below, and each with a ladder at the end leading down to a space between the rooms.

"These hallways are perfect for a thief – or a voyeur." Daniel trailed after Jack as he made his way back down the main corridor toward the center of the palace, sweeping the light on his P-90 back and forth in front of him. Daniel continued. "It's probably what they were used for when this place was in operation. Those guests who liked to watch could view the activities going on in the rooms below, and the other guests would be none the wiser."

Jack just kept walking. He really, really didn't want to think about the possibility that some sicko had gotten his jollies watching Sam and him the night before.

"Jack?" When he didn't respond, Daniel asked, "What are you thinking?"

Jack turned his head over his shoulder. "I'm thinking this place gets more twisted by the minute." Jack stopped abruptly as the corridor opened into a large room with several other passageways leading off in different directions, like spokes on a wheel.

As Daniel came up behind him, he gasped. "Wow, this is much more elaborate than I expected." Daniel looked around at all of the open corridors. "This system of hidden passageways must cover the entire palace."

"Which means that our guy could still be up here. Stay sharp, Daniel."

Daniel made his way over to one side of the room. "It looks like someone's been living up here." Daniel pointed to what appeared to be a nest of some sort. Dirty blankets, pillows, and several other small items lay strewn across the floor. As they approached, Jack noticed something reflecting the light from his P-90. He bent down to pick it up.

"What is it?" asked Daniel.

"My missing knife." Jack began wiping the blade on his pants.

Daniel looked over his shoulder. "Um, is that blood?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing it's from the cat." Actually, he was hoping it was from the cat. He didn't want to think about where else the sticky substance might have come from. He pocketed the knife and brought his radio up toward his chin. "Carter, report."

"Sir," she responded. "Loren and I have moved into the main room. We haven't heard or seen anything unusual."

"Roger that. There are a series of elevated passageways that seem to cover most of the palace. Our guy's been living up here and could be anywhere. Keep an eye out, and check in every 15 minutes."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

Jack looked down each of the hallways off the main room, but didn't see or hear anything. "This could take hours to search," he muttered. When he didn't get a response, he turned to see Daniel studying the wall. "Whatcha got, Danny?"

"There's handwriting all over the walls in this area. Goa'uld. But it's disjointed; it doesn't make much sense." Daniel moved to another section. "It's like it was written by a crazy person – or a crazy Goa'uld."

"So, you're saying that our nut job's a Goa'uld?"

"Well," started Daniel, "it would make sense. That symbol over Sam's bed was Goa'uld. It's possible there was one that never left….Hold on, there's something else here."

Daniel studied the wall for several minutes, going back and forth between different sections. "Daniel!" Jack barked, when he couldn't take it any longer.

"This is weird," the archeologist replied, still studying the wall. "This part seems to be talking about…well, about Loren's parents, I think."

"What?"

"It seems to reference two people who brought a boy here and left him on his own while they watched the light. It says something about punishing them…that they deserved to die for what they did." Daniel looked at Jack with wide eyes. "Do you think it's possible that whatever is doing these things killed Loren's parents?"

Jack got up. "There's one way to find out." He reached for his radio again, "Carter?"

"Sir."

"Daniel and I are going to check out something on the beach for a minute."

"Sir?" God, she could give that one word a thousand meanings. He thought about the way she had said it a few times last night and smiled a little. He quickly dismissed that train of thought – he needed to focus. And right now, her tone indicated that she wanted to know what the hell was going on.

Jack's tone brokered no argument. "I need you to stay with the boy, Carter. We'll check back in 15. O'Neill out." He hoped she understood that he didn't want to explain his intentions over the radio.

Daniel turned to him. "Don't you want to ask Loren about this?"

"Look, I've always thought that kid was hiding something from us. Even if we asked, I doubt he'd tell us the truth." Jack shrugged. "I want to take a closer look at those remains to see if they can tell us what he won't."

Jack and Daniel made their way back through the hidden corridor, down into Sam's room, and out of the palace. As they were walking toward the beach, Daniel took the opportunity to ask Jack about something that had been on his mind.

"Jack, what are you doing with Sam?"

Jack bristled. "Not now, Daniel."

Daniel would not be dissuaded. "See, I don't really care whether you two are sleeping together or not, but I just worry that you may be giving Sam the wrong idea, leading her on." When Jack didn't say anything but kept walking toward the burial site, Daniel continued. "Jack, you can't treat her like your girlfriend one minute, then your subordinate officer the next. I know things are complicated between you, but it's not fair to her."

Jack had had enough. He turned on the archeologist. "Goddammit, Daniel, you think I don't know that!" When Daniel just stared back at him, Jack continued to unleash on him. "Do you have any idea what it's like to work side by side with the woman you love, knowing that you can never, ever have her?" His tone dripped with sarcasm as he warmed to his subject. "Then one day, you go to a planet where they erase your memories and you actually start a relationship, only to find out once you are _way_ down that road, you have to stop because you are not the people you thought you were?" He didn't even pause to take a breath. "Complicated, Daniel, doesn't even begin to describe it!"

Jack was breathing heavily by now, staring down the archeologist, but Daniel just continued to look at him passively, his arms crossed over his chest. Finally, he spoke and quirked a half smile at the military man. "So, you love her, huh?"

Jack closed his eyes, and let out a big breath. Leave it to Daniel to completely diffuse the situation. "Come on," he grumbled. "Let's go look at those remains."

When Daniel and Jack finally arrived at the burial site, they discovered that they didn't have much excavating to do. The bones that Teal'c had uncovered a couple of weeks before were still exposed. Jack knelt down to take a closer look.

He picked up a rib and examined it carefully. He held it up to Daniel. "Yep, look here. See those marks?"

Daniel took the bone from Jack and examined it, noting several small pock marks all over the rib. "Yeah, are these indentations what I think they are?" he asked.

"They were made by a knife. This person was stabbed, repeatedly."

"So they didn't drown?"

"Not unless they walked into the ocean while bleeding to death."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "Why would Loren lie?"

Jack sighed. "Who knows? Maybe he couldn't deal with what really happened. Bottom line, it proves that he and his parents weren't the only ones here. And that they were murdered, not suicidal."

Daniel looked pale. "So whatever did this to them might be in the palace with us?"

Jack stood up and grabbed his radio. "Carter?" When there was no response, Jack shot a worried look at Daniel. "Carter, come in." There was still no response, and Jack had to repress a rising sense of panic. "Carter!"

The only sound coming from his radio was static.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jack took off at a sprint back toward the palace, with Daniel hot on his heels. He ran into the main room, the place from which Sam had last reported. She and Loren were nowhere to be found. "Sam!" he yelled, walking quickly around the space. When he got no response, he tried his radio again. "Carter, report!" Still no response.

"Jack, the hidden passages," Daniel suggested. They ran to Sam's room, and Jack pressed the bird symbol, revealing the hidden panel by the bed.

Daniel pushed the panel open, rushed in, then stopped short. "What the...?"

Jack came up behind Daniel and looked over his shoulder into the hidden space from Sam's room – and straight through to Loren's room on the other side. "They're connected?"

"Well, I guess it makes sense. Whoever designed this place must have put a hidden entrance in every room. This just wasn't open when we were in here earlier."

Jack pushed his way into Loren's room. "Yeah, well why's it open now?"

The room was in disarray, the bedding overturned with clothes and other items strewn across the floor. Daniel began poking around the mess.

"Daniel, we can come back and do a site excavation later," Jack said gruffly, heading back toward the hidden passageways.

"Jack." Something in Daniel's voice brought Jack up short. He turned to face the archeologist, who was bending over a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. "Why would this be here?" He stood, holding what was unmistakably a pair of women's panties.

Jack walked over and snatched the underwear from Daniel's hand. Definitely Sam's. "Dammit," he said under his breath.

"Jack, you better take a look at this."

Daniel picked up Loren's camera, the same one the teen had used to snap a picture of him over a week ago. He grimaced at the picture displayed on the device and held it out for Jack, who took one look and felt a chill go down his spine. There, on the display, was a picture of Sam, naked from the waist up, apparently preparing for bed. From the angle of the picture, it could only have been taken from above, the exact view provided by the narrow window in the hidden passageway above the bedrooms.

Jack flipped through the pictures rapidly and felt himself growing increasingly ill. Each picture was more explicit than the last, including several from the night before of Sam and him together in his room. Suddenly, he threw the camera on the floor, took his P-90, and began shooting the device to pieces.

"Jack! Jack, stop! That's not helping!" Daniel's yell echoed through the room as the gunfire suddenly ceased.

"What the fuck, Daniel!" he yelled. "That little prick has been spying on her the whole time!"

Daniel waited a moment, then spoke quietly. "You think he could be our Goa'uld?"

Jack ran his hands over his head and face and took a deep breath in an attempt to regain some control. "No," he shook his head. "No way. Sam would have sensed it the first day."

Daniel blew out a breath. "Right. So what's going on here then?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out." Jack grabbed his radio and spoke into the device, his voice full of menace. "Loren! You're gonna tell me where Sam is right now dammit or, so help me God, when I find you, I will take you apart one piece at time!"

Jack released the call button and waited. Daniel gave Jack a questioning look. "If he's not a Goa'uld, what makes you think he's the one who has her?"

"Gee, Daniel, I don't know. Let's see..." Jack started ticking off his fingers. "He didn't tell us the truth about his parents – twice now. He also didn't volunteer any information about the hidden passageways while we searched this damn place for days on end. And to top it all off, he has naked pictures of my...of my Major on his fucking camera. It's him."

"Come on, Jack, it's a bit of a leap from peeping Tom to kidnapping, don't you think?"

Jack just turned away, clearly disgusted with the turn of events. Daniel continued. "Look, I know he's a weird kid, but what about the Goa'uld writing? You think he put that symbol over Sam's bed?"

"Call it a hunch, Daniel." Jack lifted the radio again. "Loren!"

Several seconds passed before anything happened. Suddenly, the radio engaged, and they heard labored breathing on the other end. "Goddammit Loren!" Jack yelled into the device.

The radio engaged again, and Loren spoke this time, his voice indicating that he was close to tears. "Jack? Jack, they took her! They took Sam!" Daniel's eyebrows shot to the top of his head, and he turned toward Jack with an ever so slight I-told-you-so look.

Jack ignored Daniel. "Who took her?" he replied immediately.

Several more seconds passed. Daniel exchanged a look of deep concern with Jack. Finally, the radio engaged again. "They...they said they would kill me. They said if I told, they'd kill me!"

Daniel grabbed the radio from Jack. "Loren, this is Daniel. Are they with you?"

"No. No, they're not here right now."

"Okay, good. Tell me where you are, and we'll come get you. Okay?" They waited. Daniel tried again. "Loren?"

An eternity seemed to pass before he finally answered. "Yeah, okay...okay. I'm in that room with the stone walls. Where you first saw the cat."

Jack looked at Daniel. "The pleasure room."

"We're coming, Loren. Stay right there." Daniel handed the radio back to Jack and without a word they turned and ran toward his location.

As they rounded the corner of hallway leading to the pleasure room, Jack immediately noticed that the door to the room was shut. He hesitated for just an instance, sensing that something wasn't right. At that moment, he saw a blue flash out of corner of his eye and felt rather than saw Daniel fall to the ground beside him. He had just turned toward the source of the shot, when the burning blue net of zat fire surrounded him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jack came to slowly. He tried to shake the fuzz out of his head, groaning as the movement sent a searing pain through his skull. Damn, he hated being zatted. He intended to bring his hand down to rub his aching head only to realize that it wouldn't budge. A moment of panic set in as he tried desperately to move his arms and legs.

His eyes clearing a bit, he lifted his head to take in his surroundings and immediately wished he hadn't. They were now in the pleasure room. Next to him was Daniel, still out cold, with his hands bound together above his head in cuffs attached to a chain hanging from the ceiling of the room. His ankles were likewise cuffed and attached to a chain in the floor. Jack looked up at his own arms and down toward his legs and realized that he was similarly restrained.

Opposite him was Sam, who was also bound, but instead of hanging from the ceiling, her wrists and ankles were trapped in cuffs attached to the wall. She was dressed only in her tank top and underwear, her scantily clad form making an X against the stone wall. Thankfully, she was alert and seemed to be unharmed.

When he looked at her, she ever so slightly jerked her head toward the corner of the room. There Jack saw Loren, pacing back and forth, a wild look around his eyes. He was mumbling, and it sounded as if he was having some sort of conversation with himself. Jack could only catch bits and pieces.

"She's mine!...But I don't want to kill her – I want her...I have to kill them?...She'll be mad...No! I said I don't want to kill her….Don't make me kill her!"

Jack looked around the room again but didn't see anyone other than the four of them. He tried to listen closely to Loren's conversation, but he was certain he could only hear one side of it.

Jack took advantage of Loren's distraction to test his restraints. They were made of a strong metal that was cutting into his skin. He pulled hard on both the wrist and ankle cuffs, to no avail. He was stuck fast. As he swept the room with his eyes, he noticed a table off to one side, near Loren. On it sat Daniel's handgun and zat, too far away to be of any use even if he could somehow manage to free his hands.

In the meantime, Daniel had roused and was watching Loren carefully. "Who are you talking to, Loren?" he asked in a calm voice.

Loren whipped his head around to face the archeologist. His eyes were red-rimmed and glazed over. "The Goa'uld." At Daniel's puzzled look, he continued. "Don't you see them? They're right here."

Jack, Daniel, and Sam looked around the room and then at each other. They were clearly alone, save for themselves and Loren. Sam shook her head slightly at Jack. He, in turn, gave Daniel a look that conveyed what they were all thinking – that Loren had lost his grip on reality.

"There aren't any Goa'uld here, Loren," Daniel replied, maintaining his calming tone.

Loren snapped. "They are here! They've always been here!" He brought his hands up to cover his ears and began shaking his head back and forth violently. "No, no, no! I don't want to!" He turned to look at Daniel, desperation written all over his face. "Don't you hear them? I always hear them. They tell me what to do." He was trembling now and crying. "I don't want to hear them anymore. I just want them to go away."

Loren's demeanor shifted abruptly, and he turned to stare at Daniel with an eerie calm. His voice just above a whisper, he looked straight at the archeologist with narrowed eyes. "They want me to kill you."

Daniel tried again. "Loren, look, these voices…"

"Shut up!" he yelled suddenly. "You have to shut up or they'll make me kill you!"

"Daniel." Jack spoke his friend's name, his voice low, intended as a warning.

True to form, Daniel would not be deterred. "Loren, these voices you're hearing. They're not real. You don't have to listen to them…."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Loren quickly picked up the gun from the table, pointed it in Daniel's general direction, and began pulling the trigger. Bullets went flying, and Jack ducked his head in an effort to protect himself in the only way he could.

When the noise of gunfire stopped, he looked over at Sam, who was still attempting to shield her face in her shoulder but otherwise appeared uninjured. He turned his attention to Daniel and sucked in a breath. The archeologist's body had gone limp, and he was hanging from the wrist restraints attached to the ceiling. Jack could see blood all over the front of his shirt, but it was impossible to tell where the bullet – or bullets – had hit him.

"Daniel!" he yelled, hoping against hope to get a response from his friend. "Daniel!" he tried again, his voice catching this time. Daniel didn't move.

Jack vaguely heard Sam crying and calling Daniel's name, but he was distracted by the white hot rage he felt building inside of him. He stared at the teen in front of him who, inexplicably, was also sobbing.

"See what you made me do," he pleaded with Daniel's still form.

"No." Jack's voice was harsh. "You did this all on your own."

Loren immediately spun to face Jack. "It should have been you. They wanted me to kill you all along. They told me from the beginning that if I just got rid of you, I could have her."

Jack's voice was low and dangerous. "That would never happen, Loren, and you know it."

"You're just like my father," Loren spat out the words, his voice full of contempt. "You corrupted her. I saw the things you did to her. You're the one who made her unworthy; you made her not want me."

"Is that why you killed your father and mother, Loren? Because they didn't want you?" Jack stared straight at the deranged teen.

Loren's face looked momentarily pained. "I had to kill him. They told me it was the only way to get her back. But then my mother…" Loren stopped for a moment and looked at the ground, uncertain. His face hardened and he looked back up at Jack. "My mother tried to protect him. She shouldn't have done that. I had to kill her, too. Just like I'm going to kill you!"

Loren brought the gun up again and attempted to shoot it at Jack, but it just clicked uselessly, the clip now empty. Disgusted, he flung it to the ground and picked up the zat.

Sam gasped. Jack had already been zatted once. A second shot would surely kill him. "Loren, please, no!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Ignoring her, Loren brought the zat up and aimed it at Jack, his face a mask of pure hatred. As he moved his finger to the trigger, Jack looked at Sam trying to convey with his eyes all that he had meant to tell her.

Loren's voice was cold and bitter. "Kek kel shak."

Zat fire rang out through the room, and Jack jerked reflexively in anticipation of the pain and then felt – nothing.

When he realized he had been squeezing his eyes shut, Jack carefully opened first one, then the other. He looked right at Sam, who was smiling through her tears. He returned her smile, and was surprised to discover that not only was he still alive but that Sam was looking right past him.

"Teal'c!" she exclaimed.

Jack twisted around and attempted to look behind his back. The large Jaffa was instantly at his side and began releasing him from his restraints. "T! Thank God. What happened? How'd you find us?"

"General Hammond sent me to locate you when you neglected to check in. I heard gun fire and followed the sound to this room. When I entered, I observed Loren intending to harm you, so I disabled him."

Jack looked across the room and saw Loren lying unconscious on the floor. "You zatted him?"

"Indeed." And with that, the last of Jack's restraints was undone.

Jack rubbed his wrists and turned toward the Jaffa. "Teal'c, Daniel needs help." He hoped his friend was still alive _to_ help.

Teal'c immediately turned his attention to Daniel, while Jack rushed to Sam and began releasing her wrists and ankles. When she was free, she let out a sob and fell into his arms. He held her tightly, burying his face in her neck. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," she whispered, holding on to him. He squeezed her once and released her. They both turned toward Daniel and Teal'c.

"How is he, T?"

"He he is alive, O'Neill. But I believe we should return to the SGC as soon as possible."

By the time they returned to the main room of the palace, Daniel had regained consciousness and was able to walk with assistance. The bullet that struck him had gone straight through his shoulder. Although there was a lot of blood loss, Jack figured he would make a full recovery once Janet was able to patch him up.

Loren was still out, but Jack was taking no chances. He had bound the teen's feet and hands, and Teal'c had him in a fireman's carry for the trip back through the Stargate. Jack watched as half his team walked through the blue event horizon, with one mentally disturbed young man in tow.

Sam and Jack stayed near the 'gate, and true to his word, Teal'c, along with General Hammond and Dr. Frasier, called back within the hour to give them an update on Daniel.

"He's doing fine, Colonel," reported the doctor. Sam and Jack were standing next to one another in front of the MALP's camera. "In fact, I'm planning to send him back to you to complete his detox tomorrow. But I want to keep him under observation for 24 hours, just to be on the safe side."

"What about Loren?" Jack asked.

Janet sighed. "That's another story entirely. He was frantic once he regained consiousness – he kept saying 'the voices' were telling him he should have killed you. I've had to keep him restrained. I gave him a strong sedative, and last I checked, he was catatonic."

Sam furrowed her brow. "Any ideas what might have caused this, Janet?"

"Actually, yes. I took a brain scan, and his looks similar to those of patients suffering from schitzophrenia. If he is schitzophrenic, there's no telling what he was seeing or hearing, but to him, it would have seemed very real."

Jack and Sam looked at each other in surprise. Janet continued. "Daniel told me about the journal he found. I have a theory. I suspect that prolonged exposure to the light device causes schitzophrenia – or something similar to it – in humans. I think it was the human servants who killed the Goa'uld guests when the palace was in operation." She paused and took a breath. "In Loren's case, his behavior was probably triggered when you started turning the device down. The fact that he has recently gone through puberty may have exacerbated his reaction."

Sam looked worried. "Janet, I heard things, too. So did Daniel."

"I think that was most likely Loren," Jack said. "He knew about the hidden passageways, and he'd been spying on you the entire time, Carter." He hadn't told her about the camera or the fact that they had been watched yet, and frankly he wasn't sure he was going to. Janet's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I agree, Sam. I think this condition is something that develops only after months, maybe even years, of exposure."

Sam thought of something else. "Janet, he said something in Goa'uld before he tried to shoot the Colonel. How could he know their language?"

"Daniel thinks he may have picked it up from his parents, who he suspects were anthropologists, or maybe he just figured it out over the years. Some individuals who suffer from mental disorders like schitzophrenia are also geniuses."

Sam considered this information. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the teen after all that had happened, but she was far more sympathetic now that she knew he suffered from a mental disorder. "Is there anything you can do to help him?"

"I'm going to work with Dr. MacKenzie to see if we can't find a pharmaceutical regimen that will help with his symptoms. Most schitzophrenics do quite well when properly treated, and I'm hoping that will be the case with Loren."

Hammond broke in. "Speaking of MacKenzie, Major, I want you to talk to him after you return."

Sam's face fell, but Jack just grinned at her. "Have fun with that, Carter."

"I want you to talk to him, too, Colonel," Hammond said quickly. "This experience has undoubtedly affected all of you."

Sam gave her CO a smug look. He grimaced. "D'oh!"

"Is there anything else you two need right now?" Hammond asked.

"No, sir, I think we are fine for the moment," Jack responded. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. "Actually, sir," he said with a small grin, "we could use a new telescope." He reached down out of the view of the camera and grabbed Sam's hand, giving it a light squeeze. He was rewarded with a dazzling smile from his 2IC.

"We'll see what we can do, Colonel. Hammond out."

After the wormhole disengaged, Jack turned to face Sam. "So, Major, any ideas about what we're going to do all alone in a Goa'uld pleasure palace for the next 24 hours?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll think of something," she said, as she stepped closer to him, her voice low and rough.

Jack cupped her face with his hand and brought his lips down to hers. Sam was getting a bit carried away with the kiss, when suddenly she heard what sounded like a low chuckle. She gasped and pulled back from Jack.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to him.

"It was just the wind, Sam," he replied.

"But..." she started.

"The wind, Major," he said a second time, with more authority. Then his lips were on hers again, and she no longer cared whether it was the wind or not.

The End

**A/N - This story has been bouncing around in my head ever since I first saw The Light. I always thought there was something not quite right about the character of Loren, and I wondered how the team spent their weeks in detox, especially Jack and Sam, since they were still fresh from their experience as Jonah and Thera. **

**Thanks to all of you who have followed this fic, and especially those who have reviewed, commented, or requested an alert. It's my first fanfic, so it's always good to know people are reading it, and I would love to hear your thoughts, positive or negative. I've discovered that reviews are quite addictive and very motivating!**

**I've thought about posting a T-rated version, so if you have any interest in that, please shoot me a note. **

**Finally, a special thank you to MidKnight Rider for the idea of including the Goa'uld phrase, which I think means something like "Now you die." **


End file.
